Spring Cleaning on the Roof

Every year, BBG springs forward by cutting back. Grasses on the Visitor Center’s living roof and throughout the Garden need to be trimmed in preparation for new growth. Recently, BBG Horticulture staff and a team from New York Green Roofs—equipped with articulated pole hedge trimmers and rakes—were harnessed to a safety line due to the building’s height and the roof’s steep slope. Cutting back dormant plant material took two days to complete, just in time for the appearance of snowdrop and hoop-petticoat daffodil shoots (watch a time-lapse video of the process). Over the next few months, watch as butterfly weed, purple prairie clover, dwarf blazing star, and foxglove beardtongue bring bursts of color to the Visitor Center roof.